Meeting Next Monday 11/18/19

This not the blog post I started out to write but here goes.  After almost five years of working for the Ferndale Genies group and 139 blogposts, I am running out of steam.  I still love genealogy and my family history but it is time for me to ease out of the leadership. 

If you want to be a part of re-imagining this group, come to our meeting on Monday or send an email to Ferndalegenies at gmail.com.  Now on to the news.

Upcoming meetings:

·         Monday, Nov 18:  Next Genies Meeting:  1:00 at the Ferndale Library

·         Saturday, Dec 7:  LAST RootsMagic Meeting:  Saturday 12/7 is the last meeting of this group.  1:00 at the Ferndale Library.  I’m asking for an RSVP and will cancel it if there is not enough interest.

·         Monday , Dec 16:  Genies Meeting

Search 1.4 billion names FREE at American Ancestors through November 19.  List of collections here: https://mailchi.mp/abundantgenealogy/american-ancestors-free-access-nov-2019?e=cb7c45b1c4   American Ancestors is the data base of the New England Historic Genealogical Society.

National Archives (NARA) Virtual Conference: Free conference is offered every year in October. The good news is that the sessions are available on YouTube back to 2013.  This link will send you to the recordings for all the years:  https://www.archives.gov/calendar/genealogy-fair

Lots of DNA news this month.  All Genealogy DNA Services started holiday sales. 

Many current sale prices end Wednesday, November 27.  Thomas MacEntee says there may be new pricing for Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday but they are currently as low as I have seen them.  You can always check for current prices at Thomas’ site https://dnabargains.com/.  Use the DNA Shop tab.

The bloggers are writing about the all DNA sites adding to and improving their health offerings.  It’s where the money is.  It looks like they are all charging fees in addition to your DNA testing and other subscriptions.  Each site has different offerings and different pricing models.  I will not be looking into the details for you.  You need to pay attention to the Terms and Conditions.

Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) has dropped their regular prices significantly in addition to sale prices.  They are the only company that offers an autosomal test like Ancestry called Family Finder plus Y chromosome testing for your paternal line and mitochondrial for your maternal line.  You need to know why you are ordering these tests.  It is the perfect place to test older relatives because they use a swab (not spitting) and they save the samples for 25 years and can run additional tests.  Even tests that haven’t been invented yet. 

The Family Finder test is comparatively cheap and that preserves the sample.  The other tests are expensive and not taken lightly.  They may answer a special question you have or reveal something you did not know.  We can talk about this at the meeting.

Roberta Estes posted about Y DNA and sale prices blog here.  She starts her article with:

“I must admit – this past January when FamilyTreeDNA announced the Big Y-700, an upgrade from the Big Y-500 product, I was skeptical. I wondered how much benefit testers would really see – but I was game to purchase a couple upgrades – and I did. Then, when the results came back, I purchased more!”  Remember this is the big bucks but it contributes to the science.

Subscription Renewals:

We often talk about Ancestry renewals.  Ferndale Genie Sylvia says: Let folks with AARP memberships know that there is a 30% discount on Ancestry’s World Explorer subscription even if you are not a new Ancestry member. AARP sends you over to Ancestry’s membership department to renew via phone. I just tried today. My Ancestry membership renewal date is Nov 2^nd and the helpful young lady told me if I wait till the end of my membership period, I won’t lose any days from my current one. Otherwise, they’d have to put me in with the new discount starting today and I’d lose the remaining 2-3 weeks. So I will call again on Nov 1^st. Nice deal!

My experience this month with renewals:  One subscription renewed automatically.  In this case it was ok but you need to keep a record of automatic renewals.  Another offered a 30% discount right off the bat.  The third offered no discount for renewal so I waited.  Six weeks later came an offer with a 50% discount.  Bottom line:  Ask or wait. 

Happy Hunting!